The Steyr GB

[ghostie]

I recently purchased a NIB, unfired except for factory testing, Steyr GB from a fellow in Quebec for $650. I will be taking it out to the range for the first time tomorrow, but by the looks of it this is an incredible pistol and I got a great deal on it. The target from the factory is a less than 1 inch group at 10 metres. I'm really curious (excited! ) to see if I can duplicate those results 20 years or more after the gun left the factory. I'll post some pics of targets tomorrow. And yes, I did clean and oil this gun that has been sitting around in a box for two decades.

For those not familiar with the gun, the main unique features of it are:
- It has a fixed barrel and a gas break blowback operation (gas-delayed blowback), similar to the HK P7 series. There are two gas ports in the barrel - one in the top one in the bottom, about halfway down the barrel (right under where you can see those grooves on the outside of the barrel).
- Unlike the P7, the GB is a big gun. Roughly the size of a Beretta 92 but with an even longer barrel (5.35 inches, 136mm).
- It has a chrome-lined barrel with polygonal rifling.
- The gun is supposed to be super accurate (duh!).
- Some models, like mine, use some kind of super durable "krinkle finish". It is a finish on metal though. This is not a polymer gun.
- The gun is SA/DA. The lever on the slide is a decocker only, not a safety.
- The gun was only made from 1981 to 1988, with only about 15,000 to 20,000 being made. Some people have said it was too radical and too advanced for it's time. Like the P7's, it was probably also too expensive.

Here are some pics. I've left the serial numbers visible for you guys. If anyone can tell me what year the gun was made, that would be cool. Also... some models have the hammer with the little loop in it. This one has that swayback type hammer. What is the difference? Which one was produced first? Why change?

The fit and finish on this thing is just unbelieveable. I think I got a good deal on it. The risk is that, if anything ever goes wrong with it there will be no parts available. The best I could probably do is have someone manufacture parts ($$$). Mags are going to be next to impossible to find too.

More info here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steyr_GB

Some basic shots. I'm having trouble getting the lighting right here:

The box, from back when guns came in cardboard boxes, not plastic cases:

Some fieldstrip photos:

Top of the slide:

Sights:

Underside of slide:

Chamber;

Mags. I think they look a bit like submachinegun mags, with such a wide double stack. These things are huge compared with most modern mags. The mags originally hold 18 rounds. The previous owner pinned them to 10 without damaging them by putting dowling under the follower. Supposedly GB mags command as much as US$150-200 each down south. GB owners want them, and they haven't been made for two decades.

This is an attempt to show you the ports in the barrel for the gas break. You can see the bottom one. It is actually in the middle of the barrel. It looks off to the side due to some kind of optical illusion.

Ejection port:

Size comparison with a gun everyone knows... the GLOCK 17. In all of the size comparison photos the guns are lined up roughly at the breechface, so you can see how much longer the barrel is with the GB:

Size comparison with an HK USP:

Size comparison with the current generation of Steyr handgun, the M-A1:

Size comparison with a Beretta 92:

 

[Can-down]

That's a nice looking pistol!

 

[Vic]

Thanks for good job!

 

[Silverback]

I looked at buying a Steyr GB in the mid 80's while posted to Germany and the thing that put me off buying the one I looked at was the super heavy trigger pull. Hopefully your is better than the one I tried, how does the trigger pull compare to your other pistols?

 

[adrock]

nice looking gun, have fun at the range.

 

[Master-G]

I've always thought the GB was a neat design--if I remember correctly, they're all-steel, even the grip panels? I only saw one being shot once--probably 20 years ago or so. I remember it would shoot smoke skyward after each shot--I attributed it to the gas-retardation action. It must be a soft-shooting pistol, with the gas action and fairly heavy weight.

 

[BBq_Woa!]

what a neat, unusual thing
i really like it.

somehow it reminds me of a makarov..
it's like some stretched out makarov..

thanks for posting!

 

[DAR 701]

Nice looking later model GB! I have 3 of them here, the earlier models had commander style hammers on them. I think the price was a bit high, as none of my GB's cost more than 500 shipped, my NIB one was the pricest at 500 shipped, my other ones were 425 and 475 shipped (the 475 one came with the factory compensator, an uber rare 8 port comp/flash suppressor that is quite effective).

The frame is stamped sheet steel welded clamshell style with plastic grip panels. The GB has little muzzle flip, rather all the recoil is straight back into the shooters hand. Trigger pull varies on them, my NIB one is 6 lb SA, my IPSC rigged one is 2.9lb. DA trigger pull is nasty, long and heavy. As for accuracy, with 124 grain loads (GB loves the 124's, not so much love with the 147's) my IPSC comped one shoots 10 rounds into 3" freehand at 25 meters. NEVER SHOOT LEAD OR PLATED BULLETS! These will plug up the gas holes and blow up the pistol.

Mine range in serial numbers from 4k-8k and were imported by Alan Lever back when Lever Arms was a decent gun store. He had imported 50 of them back in the day. Yours was made right at the tail end of production, most likely in 1987. Last time I saw mags for sale was 3 years ago, guy had 6 for sale in the US for 250 each, he sold them all in a minute. If you want more mags you need to buy another gun, that is what I did. Spare parts do not exist, I think I was smart enough back in the day to get a spare hammer spring and extractor assembly. Luckily for you, spare parts will never be needed, my IPSC rigged GB has over 80,000 rounds through it and has never malfunctioned, the other one I shoot has well over 20k rounds through it and has also never malfunctioned. My NIB one has yet to have rounds through it (besides the factory test rounds).

These are my gas retards:

 

[ghostie]

Here's a bit more info:

I added a Beretta comparison photo to my original post.

The barrel really fouls up something fierce on the outside! It looks like will clean up back to a new state with solvent, but I don't know if I'm going to be doing that every time I use it. Lots of work!

This is the target that came with the gun. It's a one inch group centre to centre:

Here are some groups from my first time out with it. This is a 10+1 group at about 10 metres (the sawhorse at TMSA):

This is a 10 shot group. Of the bigger holes, one is two shots and the other is three:

That isn't stone cold accuracy, but it is pretty damn good. I can tell you without a doubt that any shortcomings in accuracry are from my shooting and unfamiliarity with it, not from the gun. The gun is superbly accurate, it's just going to take me awhile to get more used to it. Even in just my first time shooting it, I can pretty much shoot this thing better than any other autoloader.

It definitely does give off a big puff of smoke from the front when fired. I'm going to try and get some video up of the gun being shot. Youtube is just giving me some grief right now.

 

[ghostie]

I looked at buying a Steyr GB in the mid 80's while posted to Germany and the thing that put me off buying the one I looked at was the super heavy trigger pull. Hopefully your is better than the one I tried, how does the trigger pull compare to your other pistols?

The single action pull is quite good. The travel and the weight are very similar to a Beretta. The DA is quite long. I actually didn't take a DA shot the first time I had it out, but I would expect that I would pull it high and to the right a bit, due to the travel and the weight.

These guns seem to be set up on what I will call the "SIG" principle of military handguns. There is no manual safety, it's the double action trigger that is the safety. Chamber a round and then decock. It would be all but impossible to accidentally discharge this thing when it is in DA.

I've always thought the GB was a neat design--if I remember correctly, they're all-steel, even the grip panels? I only saw one being shot once--probably 20 years ago or so. I remember it would shoot smoke skyward after each shot--I attributed it to the gas-retardation action. It must be a soft-shooting pistol, with the gas action and fairly heavy weight.

I'm not sure what metals are used, but it looks to be all metal with the exception of the grip panels. They appear to be some kind of really hard plastic/composite material. What DAR701 said sounds right.

The gun is not particularly heavy. Wikipedia is saying 845 grams unloaded (29.8 oz). It is lighter than the similar sized Beretta in the photos. Berettas are supposed to be around 950g./33.5oz. It shoots pretty soft, but not .22LR style or anything. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect myself... but it does have some movement to it when it goes bang. It also definitely does give off a puff of smoke with each shot, as you say. Here's a video from TMSA yesterday:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12U3nqfKCPQ

 

[ghostie]

I was shooting my Steyr GB again this weekend, second time out with it. This thing is a shooter. Here's another 10 shot group at 10 metres:

Well, I didn't blot out the red dot with one big ragged hole, but I think this pistol definitely has the potential to do so. The group is about 2.5 inch centre to centre. For 10 shots that is "not bad"

The big fixed barrel on this thing seems to provide a built-in advantage over most other pistol designs. You either hit what you are aiming at, or you are damn close (like, within an inch or two)... shot after shot... all day long. I can't say that about all my guns.

Now for the trade off. This thing gets very very dirty, very quickly. It also heats up like nobody's business. I'm not talking black metal sitting out in the sun hot, I'm talking frying pan hot. TMSA closes at 3:00 p.m., and I was banging off a whole bunch of rounds in the last 10-15 minutes. The sides of the slide around mid-point were so hot you could not touch them for more than a split second without bring about some serious pain. I normally ride my weak-hand thumb on the slide a little bit - more as a reference point than anything - but I had to change my grip a little bit as the gun heated up to keep it away from the cooking hot sides of the slide. Not a big deal, but if I were going to use this gun for an IPSC-style competition, I would wear gloves I think. Just so I didn't have one more thing to think about. My girlfriend was saying that we should try cracking an egg on the side of the slide some time. But then, people would probably wonder if you had all your marbles if you brought an egg to the range and cracked it over your gun at the end of the day!

On the plus side though, accuracy does not seem to go down as the gun heats up. As I say, accuracy is this thing's strong suit. I would suspect that the rate at which it dirties up could cause reliablity problems if you really pushed it hard (400-500 rounds without cleaning, nothing in the GLOCK and USP era, but guns were not always built to be fired like that without cleaning).

 

[Jeff/1911]

Great job!

Ghostie,

Congratulations on your new pistol.

I want to thank you for the incredible job you did here of describing this gun. The pictures are fabulous, and your descriptions are so thorough...an excellent and informative read.

Best wishes, Jeff/1911.

 

[Silverback]

Now that is an excellent proper range report, looks like you have a keeper there!

 

[ghostie]

Thanks guys. I actually have another picture thread about a specific gun coming up very soon (still waiting on the short-term ATT, should be tomorrow though). And this time it will be a gun that is still being made and you can buy one if you like the look of it!

Well... you could buy a GB I guess, it's just hard to find one. Despite two posters to this thread accounting for 4 of them that are in Canada, I don't know how many of these things are around. I looked for about a year before finding one. And the gentleman in Quebec that I bought it from sold off an absolutely unbelieveable collection of cool guns including stuff like an HK94 (a civilian MP5, prohib now, hasn't been imported in eons). If I have a chance to buy another GB, I'll probably go for it. With this thread... maybe I'll create a little more interest and some competition for myself.